Meeting the cultural and service needs of Arabic international students by using QFD

Quality has become an important factor in global competition for many reasons. Intensive global competition and the demand for better quality by customers has led organizations to realize the benefits of providing quality products and services in order to successfully compete and survive. Higher education institutions are one example of these organisations. Higher education institutions work in an intensive competitive environment worldwide driven by increasing demands for learning by local and international students. As a result, the managers of these sectors have realized that improving the quality of services is important for achieving customer satisfaction which can help survival in an internationally competitive market. To do this, it is necessary for organizations to know their customers and identify their requirements. To this end, many higher education institutions have adopted principles of total quality management (TQM) to improve their education quality which leads to better performance through involvement of every department to achieve excellence in business. This chapter considers the importance of measuring quality in order to assist universities to proactively manage the design and improvement of the social and academic experiences of postgraduate international students, and plan management decision-making processes to deliver high-quality services in a globalized business of provision of higher education. Higher education institutions must operate effectively and efficiently and be able to deliver quality programs, by seeking to better understand the needs of their customers to be competitive in this market space

Evaluating core curricula implemented at undergraduate programs of universities

WOS: 000454729000002Core curricula implemented at undergraduate programs of universities were evaluated and suggestions made in order to implement the curricula in an effective way were examined in that study. The study model is survey and it is a qualitative case study. The study group consisted of a total of thirty-seven academicians who have given/been giving core courses at three different foundation universities in Turkey. The data obtained from interviews was analyzed via content analysis and some basic descriptive analysis. According to findings of the study, the academicians stated that the core curricula, which were evaluated via views of the academicians, supported students' progress in core skills, but not in core knowledge areas. As they indicated, core curriculum sustained academic, professional and social-individual aims of the students. Based on their opinions, it can be said the content had the features like suitability with aims, student-appropriateness, and transferability, interdisciplinary. The academicians also stated that at learning experiences of core curricula, expository teaching strategy was mostly applied while research and discovery learning strategies were rarely used. For the evaluation of core curricula, they explained that paper and pencil exams were mostly used, but process and performance evaluation were less frequently implemented. Lastly, the academicians made some suggestions focusing on the learning experiences and content of the core curricula. Based on the results of the study, it can be suggested that on the learning experiences of the evaluated core curricula, various strategies/methods/techniques which enhance students' active learning should be applied and on the evaluation, alternative assessment tools should be used

Üniversitelerdeki Zorunlu Ortak Derslerden Türk Dili Dersinin Uzaktan ve Yüz Yüze Eğitim Uygulamalarının Karşılaştırılarak Değerlendirilmesi

Zihnimizdeki düşünceleri somut ve nesnel olarak ortaya çıkararak kendimizi ifade etmemizi, toplumda yer alan diğer insanlarla iletişim kurabilmemizi ve milli kültürümüzün oluşmasını sağlayan ana dilimiz Türkçenin öğretimi ve doğru kullanımı son derece önemlidir. Bu öneminden dolayı Türk dili dersi üniversitelerde zorunlu ortak dersler arasında yer almaktadır. Ülkemizde bazı üniversiteler ön lisans, lisans ve lisansüstü eğitim programlarında yer alan dersleri ve zorunlu ortak derslerin tümünü veya bir kısmını 2013 yılından bu yana uzaktan eğitim uygulamasıyla yürütmeye başlamıştır. Zorunlu dersler arasında yer alan Türk dili dersi de bu kapsamda uzaktan eğitim uygulaması ile yürütülmeye başlanmıştır. Üniversitelerin uzaktan eğitim uygulamasına bu yönelişinin sebebi, artan öğrenci gereksinimlerine cevap verebilmek, onlara nitelikli bir eğitim sunmak ve çağın gerektirdiği bireysel gelişimi destekleyebilmektir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, üniversitelerin eğitim programlarında yer alan zorunlu ortak derslerden Türk dili dersinin uzaktan eğitim uygulamasının öğrenci görüşlerine göre değerlendirilmesidir. Araştırmanın modeli betimsel, yöntemi ise niteldir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu 100 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Bu öğrencilerden 50’si Gazi Üniversitesinde, 2016-2017 öğretim yılında, Fen Edebiyat, Mühendislik, Tıp, Eğitim ve Hukuk Fakültelerinin birinci sınıfında öğrenim gören öğrencilerdir. Diğer 50 öğrenci ise 2015- 2016 öğretim yılında, aynı fakültelerden mezun olan öğrencilerdir. Veriler, görüşme tekniği ile toplanmıştır. Veri toplama aracı ise yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formudur. Verilerin analizinde, içerik analizi tekniği kullanılmıştır. Bulgulara göre Türk dili dersinin hem uzaktan hem de yüz yüze eğitim uygulamalarına yönelik olumsuz öğrenci görüşleri çoğunluktadır. Her iki grupta yer alan öğrenci görüşlerinin analizinden elde edilen veriler benzerdir. Öğrenciler, uzaktan ve yüz yüze eğitim uygulamasının içerik boyutunda içeriğin basit ve yetersiz olduğunu, ders işlenişi (eğitim durumu) boyutunda öğretim elemanlarının etkili öğretim yöntem ve teknikler kullanmadığını, ölçme ve değerlendirme boyutunda ise sınavların basit olduğunu belirtmiştir. Uzaktan eğitim uygulamasının üç boyutunda da yetersizliklerin olması öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitim algılarını da olumsuz yönde etkilemiştir. Bu bulguların, uzaktan eğitim uygulayan kurumlar, uygulayıcılar ve Yükseköğretim Kurulu (YÖK) tarafından dikkate alınması, öğretimin niteliğinin arttırılmasına katkı sağlayabilir

Analysis of Questionnaires Applied in the Evaluation Process of Academicians in Higher Education Institutes

The aim of this study is to examine the questionnaires used to evaluate teaching performance m higher education institutes and called 'Instructor and Course Evaluation Questionnaires [ICEQ**]' in terms of questionnaire preparation techniques and components of curriculum, Obtaining at Least ore ICEQ belonging to any state and private universities in Turkey is the universe of the study, The sample of the study is 35 ICEQs from 32 universities ties in this study, Qualitative research methods are used and one of the data collection methods, document analysis method is applied and the documents/data are decoded by Content Analysis Method The items of the questionnaires are analyzed in terms of curriculum components and questionnaire preparing techniques. The findings of the study indicate that the items included in the questionnaire are related mostly to the teaching-learning processes component of a curriculum, 52 de of aft the questionnaires items are determined as related to benefits obtained from the courses by students and it is found out that 21%of the items are not appropriate for the criteria of preparing questionnaires That the analyzed ICEQs are prepared is. accordance with curriculum and questionnaire preparing techniques is vital because it contributes to validity and reliability of questionnaires, A qualified evaluation can be reached via findings obtained from reliable and valid data collection tools, It is a necessity to collect data through reliable and valid tools tor summative and formative evaluations conducted for instructors and courses in higher education institutions